In a typical wireless network, one or more wireless stations are associated with a common wireless access point. Communication between wireless stations is through the access point, which limits access to stations that have accepted security credentials and provides an interface to other networks, such as a wired network and/or a public network, such as the Internet.
The IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (LANs) provides for an infrastructure-operating mode in which wireless stations communicate with an access point and an ad hoc operating mode in which wireless stations communicate directly with each other but do not communicate with an access point. In the infrastructure operating mode, all data is transmitted twice, even if the sender and the recipient can reach each other directly. Data is sent to the access point and is subsequently forwarded by the access point to the recipient. Since data is transmitted twice, the available bandwidth of the wireless network is reduced by one-half.
In the ad hoc operating mode, wireless stations communicate directly with each other without the use of a wireless access point or a wired network. This operating mode does not allow the wireless stations to use a common access point to validate security credentials or to provide communications with the public network.